Another Lego Experience

When I was on the Barnes and Noble website recently, I happened upon a banner ad for a Lego MBA (Master Builder Academy) Robot build at their stores.  It was for kids eight and up, and it seemed to be free.  Tailor-made for us, right?  Unfortunately, Jeff would be out of town, but my wonderful mom was able to watch the younger kids so that I could take Jonathan.  We didn't really know what to expect, but we went in ready to enjoy a fun experience. I don't often get one-on-one time with him, so it was a real treat for me.

I took a picture of this guy because he represents Jonathan so well.  I don't look forward to the day when Jonathan is old enough to participate in social media, but when he is, this would make a pretty accurate profile picture for him.

 We showed up to the bookstore at the appointed time, along with 25 other kids who had signed up to participate.  This store had a great toy section and Lego book section, so Jonathan was looking forward to browsing afterwards.  (I was, too...and I made a few changes to his wish list!) We were happily surprised to find that each participant was given a Lego MBA Robot kit to build!  And take home!  Oh, happy day!

The woman in charge made some announcements and told us that this was a build for an early release of a set.  Fun!  Also, they will be having a Lego Architecture build in November, but that one is limited to builders aged 12 and up.  Too bad for us.

There was one book of instructions for all 25 kids to share, and one woman walked around showing the kids what to do.  I thought Jonathan might have trouble being patient, but he did really well.  With a little prompting, he realized that it was fun to help the kids who were having trouble with some of the steps, and he did quite a bit of helping.

Concentration!  He sat next to a teenaged boy who had the same enthusiasm for Lego Technic as Jonathan, and it was really fun to hear him talk shop with a teenager.  He seemed to be in his element.  I chatted with the teen boy's mom a bit and got some good book recommendations based on her son's experience.

After the fun (and long) build was complete, Jonathan got to spend some time taking in a few Lego books, which he really enjoyed.

After the crowd had cleared out, the gal in charge pulled Jonathan aside and told him that, since he had been so helpful with the other kids, she would like to give him the MBA book from the build.  There was only one, and he got it.  The book contained directions to all three robots that could be built from his set.  He was totally overwhelmed and thankful.  And THEN, she gave him another robot set to build at home.  He just couldn't believe it, and neither could I.

Since we weren't even sure that we would walk away from the build with a souvenir in the first place, taking home the book and two sets was a huge surprise!  He was really overwhelmed after that!  He commented to me on the way out to the car that he helped other kids because I had suggested it, so this had all started with me.  I told him that that's why kids have moms, to remind them of the good things they can do.  I hope he learned something about how satisfying it can be to help other people.  He said he liked helping them do something that he loved to do.

When we got home, we told my mom the happy story, and he got right to work building the other versions of the robot.  Soon Jeff got home from a multi-day trip, so he heard the story of our fun afternoon, too.  Yes, Jeff was gone this week, and he missed out on Benjamin's tooth trauma and Jonathan's academic award.  We're really glad to have him back!  More on Jeff's trip later.  And *huge* thanks to my mom for making this fun afternoon possible!

How Jonathan is Doing

Switching schools has been a big adjustment for all of us, but a huge one for Jonathan.  He loves school once he's there, but when he's at home, he sees it as an interruption to his main career goals of building with Legos and reading books.  He'd rather stay home and follow his own agenda.  His school day finishes later in the afternoon here than in our old town.  He's had a bit of a hard time giving up his uninterrupted time to create and read just so he can go to school.  However, we all know that's what he needs to do, for many, many reasons.  :)

He says he loves his teacher and likes this school as well as the old one, so that's good.  His teacher is a good friend of one of our new friends that we've met here, so I'm very happy about that.  I do think he is making friends - slowly - but, like most boys, he doesn't give me many extraneous details about his day, so I have to do a lot of guesswork (and stay in touch with his teacher.)  He has had some bumps in the road at school - getting lost, getting frustrated, etc. - but for the most part, I think he's doing well and has learned from the bumps in the road.  He is still learning how things work at this school - how they do Accelerated Reader, how they approach homework, etc. - which are different than the old school.  I think he's being challenged academically more this year, which is good for him and makes me happy.

This week, his teacher wanted to talk to me about a couple different things:  an occasion when he got super frustrated and embarrassed in class, and the fact that he would be getting an academic award.  Of course, each school has "the way we've always done it," and I think I had gotten a good feel for that at his old school, but I am completely starting over at this school.  So what I've learned, I think, is that at this school, there is an awards assembly each month, and each classroom teacher chooses one student to  receive a character award, and one to receive the academic award.  Jonathan received the year's first academic award in his classroom.  Benjamin and Grace came with me to their first school assembly experience, and we watched Jonathan - and lots of other kids - accept their awards.

He didn't know that we were coming or that he was going to get an award, so the surprise was really fun.  He was really proud, and it was a huge encouragement to him.  At the end of the day, he told me that his day had been awesome!  Here's what an academic award looks like at this school.  He says it glows in the dark, so what could be better than that?

And here he is with his fantastic teacher.

And by the way, I got lost on a rabbit trail last night, looking at old blog posts.  If you want to see an adorable video clip of Jonathan shortly before Grace was born, click here.

Benjamin's Teeth

Benjamin decided that he needed to be just like his brother and sister...so he fell down and bashed his front teeth.  Jonathan was just about this age when he fell and bonked his teeth for the first time, which you can see if you go to our original blog and search for "dentist."  And if you go to this blog and search for "dentist," lots of things will come up, because keeping our teeth intact seems to be an issue we have in our family!

Anyway, he was in his two-year-old class at Bible study, riding a trike around a cushioned, rubbery track (thank goodness for cushion) and he fell off and landed face first.  One of the ladies came to get me, and he was almost inconsolable, dripping blood and drool...it wasn't pretty.  Here's a picture after I got him into the car.  Of course, Grace was there, too.  I called the dentist and got an appointment for the following day.

 Here he is after I got him cleaned up a bit.  Poor guy.  He was really hurting.

 His lip and teeth were so uncomfortable that he couldn't even take a bite of applesauce, which is a huge treat for him.  (It was the only cold/soft food I had on hand, so I was thankful to at least have applesauce!)  Grace showed him how to take licks of the applesauce, which made a huge mess but did get a little bit of lunch - a very little - into his tummy.  His teeth were still oozing blood a bit when I put him down for his nap.

 The nap helped a lot.  Here he is afterwards, with Cookie Monster, getting ready to go get his brother at school.

 We went to the dentist the next day, and I have done this so many times with my kids who have bashed their teeth, I knew what to expect for the most part.  (They had him step on the scale there, and he weighed 40 lbs., by the way.  Same as Grace.)  His x-rays looked OK and we are supposed to watch for changes over the next couple of months.  Nobody was alarmed at his 7-8 mm overbite (Jonathan's was 13 at this age, and the dentist was alarmed) so I'm not going to take away his finger-sucking habit yet.  His teeth are not chipped, but they are superficially cracked.  That won't matter unless he falls on them again.  Oh, my.  He was very happy to be at the dentist's office and was a champ the whole time.  Oh, and I didn't mention this, but we had all been at the dentist's office less than a week earlier for Jonathan and Grace's checkups.  The hygienist was bugging me to start bringing him in, so I made an appointment for his first checkup, along with his siblings, in six months.  But, just like his siblings, he had to make sure that his first appointment was for trauma, not a cleaning.  Sigh.

The office wasn't very busy, so they let Grace lay in a chair and watch movies in the ceiling, too.

You may notice that my pictures are less than fabulous.  Jeff was hiking and had our real camera, so my iPod pictures had to suffice.  (We still have our old digital camera, but I hadn't gotten it loaded with batteries yet.)

As I was perusing old blog posts about taking the kids to the dentist, I got caught up in looking at posts of Jonathan at this age.  It's so fun to click on those old movies and hear him talk.  I'll try to post a clip or two of Benjamin talking, because I know I'll want to go back and hear him someday!  Benjamin plays so differently than Jonathan did.  I know people notice the similarities between them, but they are so very different, too!  I blogged so much better about Jonathan than I do about Benjamin.  Someday when I make his scrapbook, I hope I remember enough about these days to do some decent journaling in his book.

Back to the teeth topic...Benjamin is healing well, and his lip is scabbed up but recovering quickly.  He has been a good sport, and I'm very thankful that nothing worse happened that day.  Jeff was out of town, so the timing would have been "perfect."

Measuring

Benjamin thinks it is a huge deal when I forget to put away the "measuring stick," as he calls it, so that he can take a turn measuring things.  I guess he has seen me measuring a lot since we have moved!  And there's *still* more that I need to hang up or put away...

When it comes time for him to learn some measuring skills in school, he'll already know how a ruler works.  :)

Brothers

This photo is a pretty good summary of their relationship.  Jonathan doing something fascinating, showing Benjamin, and Benjamin watching with rapt attention and admiration.

Could They Be Any Cuter?

When they play together, they are pretty much...adorable.

I'm not a big fan of screen time for little kids, but Jeff does have an iPad, and when he's home, he'll let the kids see it now and then.  When they get a turn, Benjamin and Grace want to play the "coloring game," which is basically a blank sheet of paper, and you can draw in any color with your finger.  As screen time goes, I think it's fairly harmless!  But since they don't get to do this very often, they are motivated to share and take turns so as not to lose their chance to draw.  I'm a biased mom, but I think they're super cute.

Jonathan's First Raingutter Regatta

The Raingutter Regatta is a pretty big production for the Cub Scout Pack in our new town.  This was our first experience with the Regatta.  It's similar to the Pinewood Derby, which is a little more well-known, but with boats, of course.  Jeff was out of town, so I took Jonathan.  Huge thanks to my mom for staying with the younger kids...they are way too young to have enjoyed the evening or survived without multiple meltdowns.  (Meltdowns by them...or possibly by me.)

All in all, Jonathan learned a lot, after a few bumps in the road, and I think the evening was a success!

What to Do with Quatros and Duplos

The Kid Loves Tomatoes

After a Swim

Kids' Gift Ideas

For those who ask for a wish list for the kids, I've posted one for 2013 birthdays and Christmas up at the top - just click on the tab. As I noted at the top of the list, "Truly, they don't *need* anything...you all take such good care of them...and they are very thankful for gifts of any size.  Please feel free to give small gifts...or gifts of your time!"  Thank you for your kindness! 

Legofest and a Zillion Pictures

Awhile back, Jeff and Jonathan went to Legofest with a coworker and his son.  Legofest had come to our area - or at least, within driving distance - so of course they had to go experience it!  I stayed home with the two "youngers," but I persuaded Jeff to take some pictures on the real camera (rather than his phone) so that I could experience Lego fest vicariously.  Here are the pictures he brought back.

Waiting for the opening...

The legendary Lego pile

There are lots of pictures like this one - Jonathan with a life-sized Lego model.  They uploaded randomly throughout my post.  I won't label all of them.  Some of them are blurry, but I figured that any little buddies out there would enjoy them anyway, so I included them.

The Chima area was a big favorite of Jonathan's.  The kids could race their Speedorz and walked away with free Chima sets.  (Or "free' with the price of admission, anyway.)

This session was the main goal of the trip:  to sign up for one of the time slots with a real Lego Master Builder.  Jonathan is determined to be a Lego Master Builder or Model Designer when he grows up.  (I think Model Designer is a better fit, but that's a topic for another post.) This is Jonathan's session.  The Master Builder talked to the kids and then gave them a building assignment.

He was pretty excited.

Here he and his buddy are with their assignments.

Jonathan got some great individual attention from the Master Builder, which made him and Jeff very happy.  (There are just seven Lego Master Builders in the world, so it was a pretty big deal.)

Jonathan's favorite find at Legofest.  You'll see him enjoying the reading area below.  He has informed us that what he wants most for his birthday and Christmas is this book.  (Don't word, we've already gotten it for him.)

The monochromatic building area.  Everything here is built with 2x4 bricks, and everyone put their creations together.

There came a point when Jonathan was *done* with all the attractions and retreated into a world of books, much like he does at home.  The Lego people were ready for this, and you can see the reading area they had prepared above.  He soaked it all in.  He had Jeff take several pictures from the pages of his favorite book so that he could use them as inspiration at home.

I think Jeff was fascinated by the level of detail on Lightning McQueen...he took a lot of pictures of this one!

One of my favorite pics of the day.

This map of the USA started out empty at the beginning of the weekend and was full of everyone's creations by the end of the weekend.  The Legofest  people posted the finished map on their website. Pretty neat!

The boys had a wonderful day.  Jonathan said it was better than Legoland!

And what did Benjamin and Grace and I do while they were gone?

Important things.

Yes, very important things.